In Acts 2 we have the story of a promise kept. The Spirit, the advocate that Jesus spoke about enters the 120 or so people that had been followers of Jesus, both women and men. And the Spirit miraculously takes the first step in the multicultural mission Jesus gave them by breaking down a significant cultural barrier: language. It was perfect timing as thousands of pilgrims had flooded Jerusalem for Shavuot, one of the three annual festivals that required pilgrimage to the temple. Jews were living all over the Mediterranean and spoke all kind of regional dialects. And there were many more languages than there are now.

The Spirit of God descended on the group and gave them the ability to speak in other languages. Hearing the sound of it, a crowd began to gather and they each heard their language being spoken. 120 people just started speaking in languages they couldn’t just a few minutes before and the people around them noticed. They said, “Aren’t all these people from Galillee? How are we hearing them in our native language?” Even though all the people there were Jews, they had different languages, regional dialects, different types of clothing – small but significant cultural distinctions that made for a really strange experience. Some were amazed by it, but others thought they were drunk. 

And so Peter, who seems clearly prepared for this because of the incredibly robust rhetorical structure of his speech, creates an audience. He is ready to tell his story. Are we ready to tell ours?

We’ll pick up tomorrow with the first section of Peter’s speech, which is a reference to Joel, the Old Testament prophet, but what are your thoughts for today? This story reminds me of how small and fragile that initial group of Jesus followers really was. And it makes me think about our small group as well. We at PBC are a small, fragile ecosystem, but we also represent that first group in a way - we are multicultural and we represent that purpose of Jesus, to include all people. And the promise of Jesus for them is the same as it for us. They believed it. And power came upon them and barriers began to be broken down. Do we still believe in the multi-cultural mission of Jesus? Do we still believe in the power of the Spirit to do miraculous acts through us that bring people together? Are we looking up at the skies with worry? Or are we on the move by the power of the Spirit, adapting to the barriers we now face with this virus, confident in the promise of Christ’s call? I think if we’re being honest, we are striving to be faithful, but we are struggling with it. I can’t imagine what those early followers, just 120 huddled together at great risk of persecution by the same forces that killed Jesus; I can’t imagine their stress. But they held on to each other and they were as faithful as they knew how to be. And that faith was rewarded with the power to speak the very words of God. I pray for that kind of togetherness even now for Peachtree Baptist Church, and the church universal. Let’s name our stress, and then let’s be as faithful as we know how to one another and to God, confident in the power of the Spirit indwelt within us to be witnesses to the well-being God promises in Christ Jesus.

—Paul

Pentecost, Jesus Mafa